Lenin Collected Works:
Volume 35

Preface by Progress Publishers

Volume 35 consists of letters, telegrams and notes written by Lenin between February 1912 and December 1922 inclusive.

The documents in ·this volume reflect Lenin's activities during the revival of the working-class movement that began in 1910, during the imperialist world war, during the period when the Great October Socialist Revolution was prepared and carried out, and during the first five years of Soviet power.

The letters written in the years of revolutionary revival— to the editorial board of Pravda, to Y. M. Sverdlov and others—show Lenin's activity in guiding the Bolshevik legal daily newspaper Pravda and the Bolshevik group in the Fourth State Duma, and contain authoritative observa tions on the problem of nationalities.

A number of letters, to Maxim Gorky, G. K. Orjonikidze and others, throw light on Lenin's efforts to unite the Party on the basis of the decisions of the Prague Conference, and his fight against the anti-Party August bloc, organised by Trotsky.

A large number of letters in this volume reflect Lenin's struggle against the imperialist ~var and the treacherous policy of the open social-chauvinists, Kautskians and Trots kyists, and expose the anti-Party activity of hidden ene mies of the Party—Pyatakov, Bukharin, Zinoviev and their supporters. These letters also show what Lenin did to guide the revolutionary work of the Bolshevik organisations in Russia and unite the Left-wing elements of international Social-Democracy on the principles of proletarian inter nationalism for the fight against social-chauvinism and for transformation of the imperialist war into civil war.

The volume includes a considerable number of letters from Lenin to Inessa Armand, containing most important propositions on Bolshevik theory and tactics in regard to problems of war, peace and revolution. The Bolshevik attitude to the slogan "defence of the fatherland” receives particular attention.

The letters and telegrams of the years 1918-20 contain directives issued by Lenin on questions of the country's defence, the Red Army's military operations and consolidation of the Soviet rear.

A number of letters sharply criticise the work of the Revolutionary Military Council. These letters, and also the telegrams to the Military Councils of various fronts and armies, expose the suspicious activities of the Trots kyists who had found their way into high military posts and were attempting to frustrate the successes of the Red Army and make more difficult the struggle of the Soviet people against the foreign invaders and the whiteguards.

In the letters covering the years 1921-22 much space is devoted to the strengthening of the Soviet state, econom ic planning and the electrification of the country. Many documents of this period deal with the problems of improving the work of the machinery of state—the drive against bureaucracy, the proper selection of personnel, systematic checking of the fulfilment of decisions and drawing the mass of working people into state administration.

Lenin's correspondence in these years demonstrates his special concern for scholars and writers, for the develop inent of Soviet culture, science and technology. This can be seen in his letters about the plan for electrification of the country, the importance of radio inventions, the compilation of a dictionary of contemporary Russian, the work of libraries and schools, and in those which point t~ the necessity for gathering materials on the history of the Civil War and the Soviet Republic.

The volume contains 172 documents that had not been included in previous editions of the Collected Works (they are marked with an asterisk in the contents list). Of these 23 appeared in print for the first time in the Fourth Russian Edition.

The letters and telegrams are in chronological order, those sent abroad from Russia being dated in old style, those sent from abroad in new style. Where there is no date in Lenin's original, the editors have added it at the end of the document.

Apart from the reference notes, there is an alphabetical list for identifying the pseudonyms, nicknames and initials used in the text.